


Exile

by buddie_brettsey



Category: Chicago Fire, Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Angst, Exboyfriend comes back, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Ruzek is here too but I use him as a background character tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:09:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28758600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buddie_brettsey/pseuds/buddie_brettsey
Summary: Months after Gabby had returned to PR after vistiting Matt and Sylvie, the older Dawson sibling makes a reappearance...This is technically a part two to a previous work titled “Ours.” but honestly it isn’t completely necessary you read that one although I obviously recommend it 😄
Relationships: Sylvie Brett/Antonio Dawson, Sylvie Brett/Matthew Casey
Comments: 3
Kudos: 57





	Exile

It had been months ever since Gabby went back to her relief work in Puerto Rico and life was good for Sylvie and Matt. The couple had gotten into a good grove with each other. They were carpooling to work, spending lazy Saturdays with each other, going on double dates with Stella and Kelly. They had even begun discussing moving Matt out of Kelly’s place and into Sylvies. It was simply perfect. Which worried Sylvie…

After multiple traumas and breakups, she knew that when things got perfect, that’s when trouble was bound to happen. Life was never as simple as she wished it would be. So when she came back from a call with Gianna to find Detective Antonio Dawson chatting with Rescue Squad 3 about some arson files, she wasn’t completely surprised…

As it turns out Antonio had recently rejoined the Intelligence Unit. He had spent a year getting clean in rehab and then spent another year maintaining his sobriety while doing relief work with Gabby. But relief work isn’t what he truly wanted to do so after a long discussion with Sergeant Hank Voight, he was allowed his gun and badge back and was welcomed with open arms into his old unit. 

It had only been a few weeks of doing mostly lowkey surveillance work with his unit when Trudy caught wind from Mouch about an apparent serial arsonist. Boden, Casey and Severide had tried to get help from OFI but like usual, the people in the Ivory Tower insisted they needed more proof before they could step in. 

Thankfully the firehouse had connections with the CPD so they collectively decided to go around the bureaucratic mess that was OFI and head straight to their favorite Desk Sergeant. The Intelligence Unit didn’t always handle arson cases but with no new murders or drug trafficking rings (which was exceedingly rare in Chicago), Sergeant Voight was happy to help catch whoever was responsible before someone got hurt. 

So that’s how Antonio ended back at the firehouse he used to frequent for the first time in over 2 years. Sylvie had two options she thought while she hid behind 81. She could either go and say hello to get it over with or sneak past her ex boyfriend to her current boyfriends quarters. Unfortunately she didn’t get a chance to choose as Antonio came around truck 81 and spotted Sylvie crouching behind the firetruck while whispering to her new ambo partner who questioned “that guy with Kelly” was. 

While it just about scared Sylvie shitless when Antonio came up and tapped her on the shoulder, she tried to quickly regain her composure. The last time a Dawson sibling showed up at the firehouse, it didn’t go over well and she really didn’t want it to go that way again. Too afraid of what might happen between Matt and herself if she even dared to say the wrong thing to her former lover. 

Antonio seemed eager but shy as they caught up on life. He wanted to tell her how he had gotten back on track but didn’t want to come off too forward. So after Sylvie introduced him to Gianna, he told her about his time away, about how he’s back in Chicago for good. Thankfully she didn’t need to tell him about Matt and herself, Antonio had already gotten an earful about that from his little sister months prior. But just because he knew, didn’t mean he was happy about it…

The truth was, Antonio still had strong feelings for Sylvie. In fact, the feelings he had, had never gone away even if their relationship ended three years prior. The only reason he had to end it in the first place was because his life was moving too fast and he didn’t think Slyvie could handle it all. With two kids, an ex wife and a demanding job he didn’t want to overwhelm the paramedic so he made the tough choice to end it. 

The two stood talking friendly (and mildly awkwardly) for some time while Ruzek finished learning what he needed to know from Severide. They talked long enough for Matt Casey to come peeking through the window by the dispatch center to see what was taking Sylvie so long to come inside. After it had been over a half hour since 61 returned to quarters and Sylvie had yet to come back into the common room, Matt had begun to worry what could be taking her so long. If she was going to do inventory, she’d usually at least grab a drink before doing so. Unfortunately for Matt, peeking through the window did nothing to calm his slight anxiety, it only worsened it. 

While Matt was confident in himself, when it came to Antonio, he was slightly more insecure. Sure, Matt was a decorated Captain in the CFD and sure, he was by no means a bad looking man. But over the years he had seen what Antonio was capable of. He had seen the detective kill a man more than once, saw the way he could apprehend a suspect with ease and watched as he defeated his own candidate in a boxing match years ago. Antonio was tough as hell and had already made Sylvie fall for him. So a part of Matt had always wondered about Antonio coming back and whisking away the girl he loved. A part of him had wondered if Sylvie had any lingering feelings for the older man. 

Matt continued to watch from the window, not exactly sure what he would even say if he went out there. That was until Sylvie came into the common room. While Matt had been expecting for CPD to arrive but he hadn’t expected Antonio to be the one to come and certainly didn’t expect for his girlfriend to be talking to her ex. He was completely caught off guard and out of his head. 

The Captain watched as Slyvie grabbed a water bottle and headed back out to the Ambo to start inventory while Gianna went to bother Gallo but who knows what. It gave him the perfect opportunity to sneak out and have a private conversation with Sylvie so the next thing he knew he was climbing into the back of Ambo and started to silently help her restock supplies.

Sylvie sighed as she watched Matt busy himself but said nothing to her, “So you saw that Antonio was here?” she softly said.

A short “Uh huh.” was all he cared to reply with. “You know you have nothing to worry about, right?” she assured him. “Yep.” “Okay then why aren’t you saying much? You can tell me anything you know?” “I’m fine. Nothing to say”, he said in a short monotone that was startling to get under Sylvies skin. “You clearly are upset Matt… if you need to say something just say it, why else would you come out here right after Antonio left? You have never once helped me with restocking the ambo” she pushed. 

Matt sighed and contiplated if he truly wanted to say what was on his mind. If he wanted to potentially start argument that may or may not be over nothing, especially at work with 15 hours left in their shift. But as smart as the man was, sometimes he just didn’t think or he got caught up in his head so he said it anyway. 

“I just need to know, do you still have feelings for him?” he said with hesitation. Sylvie looked up from where she was sorting IV lines shocked, “Unbelievable. I didn’t ask you that when Gabby came back. After everything we’ve been through?” and with that she left the ambulance and went to find Stella, all while trying her hardest to not make it obvious to the rest of the house that she was upset. She didn’t even want to imagine that conversation in the common room. 

When Sylvie found Stella, the older woman already knew something was up by the desperate look in the blonde's eyes. Over past 10 months since Sylvie had practically told Matt she loved him, Stella had almost become the couples relationship coach which was something she was truly happy about. Stella liked that at long last she presented as someone in a stable enough relationship for others to come to for advice about their own relationships. 

Immediately Stella pulled Sylvie into the women’s restroom and jumped up on the counter, “Okay, so what did our sweet Matthew do this time?” she hummed. “Antonio was here, apparently he moved back and Matt saw him talking to me out there. So of course he asked me if I still had feelings for Antonio? I haven’t seen him in two years, haven’t dated him in over four! I feel bad but I had to walk away after he asked me that...”

What Sylvie said wasn’t anywhere near what Stella   
thought might be the issue, so she wasn’t exactly sure how to comfort her friend but had to try her best, “I’m sure he didn’t mean anything against you babe. You might have known him longer but, I live with the man. Sometimes he gets… he gets scared he’ll loose you. Gabby certainly didn’t help and I’m sure he wasn’t expecting Antonio back anytime soon. I promise if you just talk to him calmly you two can clear this whole thing up.” 

Sylvie had no idea that Matt was so afraid of loosing her which was honestly nice to hear. While she didnt want her boyfriend to be insecure, she thought to herself that it must mean he loves her as much as she loves him. She knew she probably reacted too strongly but when she had started her shift, she had no idea anything of the sorts would happen to today. 

So the paramedic left the restroom after profusely thanking Stella for always being there for them and giving her a quick hug. When she went back out the apparatus floor she was surprised to find the Squad 3 truck gone, only to be informed by Gallo that Casey had hopped a right with the squad guys to go re-examine a arson sight with Halstead and  
Upton. 

Sylvie knew that Severide was a highly skilled arson investigator and that lieutenant could’ve handled it on his own or with his own team at least. That there was no real reason Casey had to go with them. Which only meant that Matt had decided to avoid her. As much as her feelings were hurt, she also couldn’t blame him much. She herself was one to avoid him when she was upset so now she was just getting a taste of her own medicine. 

So thhow it went for the rest of shift. It was a slow day and the couple only interacted when needed at a scene. As soon as they were returned to quarters, Matt went straight to his office and stayed there unless completely necessary to exit. Thankfully the rest of the house knew better by now to not disturb Casey when he was in one of his moods so nothing was even questioned. At the very least that made Sylvie feel better as she didn’t have to explain what was happening too all her friends. 

By the time their shift was over Sylvie figured she’d go back to her apartment, freshen up and then head over to the loft to discuss all this privately with Matt. Unfortunately her plans were ruined when she walked to her door only to find Antonio there waiting outside her apartment for her to come home. 

It felt like all Sylvie had done the past 12 hours was sigh so did again before she started her questioning, “What are you doing here Antonio?” she said while opening her door. “Just wanted to talk some more. Felt like we didn’t get to say everything that need to be said back at the firehouse and I knew you’d be getting home soon. Hailey gave me your new address.” he said while following her inside. 

As much as she loved her friend Hailey, at the moment she regretted ever having her and the rest of the girls over for wine nights thus forth giving the younger detective her address. But that wasn’t her main concern at the moment. It was, “what else do you think we need to talk about? You met my new ambo partner, you know about Matt and I, you told me about moving back. I didn’t think there was anything left to discuss?”.

“That’s where you’re wrong Sylvs. Don’t you miss us? I get it. I’m the one who screwed everything between us up but I still think about you… hell I still love you!” Sylvie could barely even process what he had said before he was pulling her in close to him for a kiss. She promptly pulled away so their lips couldn’t actually touch. 

When she pulled away she was tempted to outright smack him but instead started to yell “You don’t get to come back into my life and ruin one of the best things to ever happen to me! I don’t have feelings for you, I got over all of that a long time ago! Just because you got good and you came back doesn’t mean that you get to wreck Matt and I or pull some shit like you just did! So get out of my apartment and leave me alone!”. 

With that Antonio left as he was told, glancing back with an apologetic look but not knowing what he could say. He knew he fucked up and wasn’t sure if it could ever be fixed.

As Sylvie closed the door behind him she slid down the back of the door to the hardwood floor and cried. She cried as she thought of how Matt was already mad at her, let alone how mad he was going to be after she told him of what just happened. Even if they didn’t actually kiss, it was still too far and Sylvie knew if Gabby pulled the same thing Matt, that’s she’d be justifiably angry. So she had to tell him, as much as she absolutely didn’t want to. She knew despite Chicago being a big city that their friend group was relatively small and it was bound to get back to him somehow. He needed to hear it from her only. 

Begrudgingly Sylvie stood, wiped her mad and frustrated tears away. Went to clean up her appearance a bit then headed over to the loft Matt shared with Kelly and Stella. Earlier that morning Stella told Sylvie of her plans to go to the lake with Kelly so at the very least, if she had to have this talk at least it would be alone. 

Sylvie was still hesitate as she stood outside the lofts door. Stella ended up finding her friend frozen as she headed out for the day so she gave Sylvie a hug, whispered “you got this” and with the help of Kelly, pushed her into the apartment. 

There standing with his back to her was Matt pouring himself a cup of coffee. When he heard Sylvies footsteps and turned around, he poured her a cup as well before walking them over the coffee table and gesturing for Sylvie to sit down next to him. 

She expected for Matt to start the conversation but when he stayed silent, she started talking, well more like rambling. If she didn’t say it all at once, she was afraid she wouldn’t say it at all. “I’m sorry for the way I reacted. I shouldn’t have stormed off like that. I just never expected that question out if you… I never once thought about you being scared to lose me. Because I’m scared to lose you too.” 

Matt pulled her into him and started to rub her back. Sylvie was tempted to leave it at that, with Matt holding her close and whispering his own apologies and sweet nothings into her ear. She couldn’t however, Matt deserved better than that. So she pulled away from him and looked into his blue eyes before starting the hardest part,

“There’s one more thing I have to say and when I say you have to know I love you. Completely and totally I only love you. You have to remember that okay?” at the point Matt got scared of what Sylvie was about to say but let her continue, “When I got home today, Antonio was waiting for me outside my door. I let him in, I didn’t think too much of it honestly. Until he told he still loves me, then he pulled me for a kiss but nothing happened I swear! Okay, you have to believe me! I didn’t let anything happen, I kicked him out and then I came straight here.” 

Sylvie waited in anticipation as she practically saw the wheels turning in Matt’s head until after a moment, he finally spoke delicately “I believe you. I believe that nothing happened. I’m upset that he would try to corner you like that but I do believe that you would never think you’d kiss him. Even if I did question you about your feelings for him.. Which was completely out of line for me I have to add.” he reassured her. Sylvie was relieved beyond belief, the way they left things at the firehouse was bad enough. The fear she had that she and Matt would break up only worsened when she saw Antonio earlier. But now, she felt content and at peace with her man.

They spent the next couple of days in between shifts at Sylvies apartment where they had more privacy, able to stay in bed together for as long as they pleased.

Until it was shift day again. Late into the night, the alarms rang and 51 were pulled to a call while rubbing sleep from their eyes. 

When they arrived at the call, they were surprised to have found that Intelligence had beaten them there. Turns out, Intelligence had a suspect for the arsons and had followed the man to the old warehouse. Unfortunately the suspect had run into the building and set it ablaze before they had a chance to apprehend him. Thankfully, no one was inside other than the suspect so all of 51 was able to get the scene under control much quicker than usual. 

As Matt dragged the suspect out of the building he caught sight of Antonio. He was about to walk right over to the detective but remembered he had a job to do when the man clinging to him started coughing up a lung because of his own stupidity. So instead he walked the man over to where Gianna was waiting in the back 61 next to Ruzek who had handcuffs ready to go before turning back to where Antonio stood next to a SUV. 

Before he could though, Sylvie caught Matt’s arms, pulled him close and whispered for him to please be kind. As much as she was still upset at Antonio, as much as she wouldn’t blame Matt for whatever he chose to do, she didn’t want to make a scene in front of all of 51 and Intelligence. They didn’t need to see her problems.

Antonio already had his arms raised in surrender by the time Matt walked over. “You don't need to say it man. I know I crossed a line.” Antonio started. “Listen, life has been a lot these past few years and I did some things I regret and one of those things was hurting Sylvie. So I just wanted to make sure there was nothing left between Sylvie and I. There's not. So I promise to keep my distance, especially after I just she is with you.” 

What he said wasn't what Matt had anticipated but he was happy. Happy he didn’t have to cause a scene in front of all their friends. At the end of the day, Antonio was someone Matt liked and respected, even if they were now ex brothers in laws. Even if he did try to interfere with his relationship, at least he owned up to it instead of storming off. Matt thanked him, gave him a bro hug before going back to 81 to finish packing up.

It was then that Sylvie came up to Matt for a quick moment before she headed off to Med, “So that went well?” she asked. “Surprisingly so.” Matt replied before giving her a kiss on the cheek. 

As Sylvie drove off to Med, she silently thought to herself that if they could survive two exes then they could survive anything. Unbeknownst to her, Matt was thinking the same thing as he went back to quarters. They both hoped for peace but knew it was only a matter of time something else came up, but this time they weren't worried. Knowing if they had eachother then nothing could harm the love they shared.


End file.
